West Chester airline pilot Erin Mariah Murphy has been flying planes since she was a teenager, but that is not her only passion, writes Matteo Iadonisi for 6ABC. 

“By trade I’m an airline pilot, but by passion, I am an animal advocate,” she said. 

Murphy adopted rescue dog Zeke, who was originally taken from a home in Alabama and brought to Brandywine Valley SPCA. He made it halfway home, as Murphy would say. 

Zeke inspired Murphy to write the children’s book Halfway Home. In it, a fictional character retrieves Zeke from an air rescue and later becomes his parent. 

“So many people don’t know about animal air rescue services,” said Murphy. “And so, as an aviator, to be able to combine those two elements and inspire the next generation of pet advocates was just something I really felt called to do.” 

Read more about Erin Mariah Murphy at 6ABC.